{"id":179,"date":"2010-01-24T02:48:51","date_gmt":"2010-01-24T02:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fresnoattorneyblog.com\/?p=179"},"modified":"2010-01-24T02:48:51","modified_gmt":"2010-01-24T02:48:51","slug":"differentiating-the-duties-owed-by-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fresnolawyerblog.com\/?p=179","title":{"rendered":"Differentiating The Duties Owed by Agents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prof. Deborah A. DeMott from Duke University School of Law has written a thoughtful article in which she differentiates among the fiduciary duties owed by agents.\u00a0 Prof. Demott begins as follows:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cLegal theorists differ on how best to characterize fiduciary duty; to some, it\u2019s best understood as a consequence of contract \u2013 as a set of default terms to which parties would agree, had they the benefit of unlimited resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

[On this topic, see my prior article regarding Le vs. Pham<\/em>, in which I posit that the court got it wrong by creating additional duties where the contract already established the relationship between the parties.]<\/p>\n

Prof. DeMott continues.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s conventional to distinguish among an agent\u2019s duties.\u00a0 Restatement (Third) of Agency<\/em> uses the terminology of duties of performance and duties of loyalty.<\/p>\n

Hooray \u2013 someone who breaks down the different duties owed by a fiduciary.\u00a0 As to agents, she says it\u2019s a duty of loyalty and a duty of performance.<\/p>\n

The duty of performance is seemingly self-evident.\u00a0 \u201cAn agent\u2019s duties of performance include the duty:<\/p>\n